Acrylikhan

hehe, hehe! that's awesome Troy!

You can alter the chest armor to fit you by cutting the armor, bracing the area and then filling the gap with fiberglass gel, or bondo... There was a thread somewhere on here that had someone show how they did it with a Imperial Royal guard helmet...

Fear that I will be burning down my house with wiring up a custom oven. If that doesn't generate some level of fear, I don't know what will!! I need to make a larger forming table so that I can 1) heat larger sheets of plastic, and 2) accommodate the chest armor pieces. This thread starting to turn into more of a blog anyway, and since building this is necessary to completing the armor, (as well as a few other projects), I might as well show it off. My dinkie table I have now, and the scientific oven just aren't large enough to cook a 2 foot by 2 foot sheet of plastic. Besides, this projects became a pain in the arse a day or so ago, so I had to name it. I think the Quake III character would be quite cool to do!

Agreed. Lets get all the facts on the table, sort it out and go from there. Let's have a good healthy discussion on the matter.

I've started some work on the boot holster. This will be a true test of my skills: getting the blaster to fit in the holster I'm going to make. I'll post some pictures of that very soon. The Phobos Project has been taking most of my time. So here's some snapshots of my progress so far... All 441 holes.... Forming Platen Construction - Complete. Vacuum Test 1 - Tomorrow morning - 7:00 am I'm hoping this will be a powerful as I think it will be. If not, I can take it apart and add some improvements.

I do like the "high" boot version... and cheap in my size! Coyote tan is the "correct" color we're looking for?

No Problem Kevin!! :lol:

For a Lancer, yes. To be a regular Biker Scout, I think it's up to the Garrison Standards. In my opinion, it shouldn't matter. Check with your garrison XO to be sure. As long as it looks convincing, I think it should be okay.

Looks good so far, man! Have you got a flightsuit yet?

Yeaaa!!! Way to go Jedi-Jennie!!!! :) :)

Been a bit busy lately, so I'm getting back on track. I've been devoting a lot of my time to the Phobos Project, which has a direct relationship to this project as depicted by the following algebraic expression: P = (TB)x Which, logically, could make the following expressions also true: P = (TK)x P = (TD)x P = (TI)x P = (TS)x P = (IG)x P = (TC)x We'll explore those equations in later chapters in this course. We received some new urethane foam at work, and I've been commissioned to see how good it will stand up to the rigors of vacuforming. Now... what to do? Since I've got the Holdout pistol, I think it is high time that I give the boot holster a try. Stay tuned...

I did more carving on the block that will be the main housing of the carbine. I've trimmed it down to size and added a groove detail around the front and side edges. I still need to carve the details for the back, and create the detail pieces for the top. I've etched in the box area where the hand will be bolted. Next part will be centering some through holes for some hex lag bolts. No glue here! The detail pieces on top will hide the lag bolts for the grip. Speaking of handles and grips... I found a proper sized box of plastic for the job. Time know to remove the unnecessary bits. For th texture part of the grip, I'm pulling an old trick using clay, resin and a old metal screen. The trick is, get some sulfur free modeling clay and get it heated up to about 100 to 120 degrees. Made a little flat surface out of it. Press into the clay the metal screen, and then using alcohol and a paper towels, smooth out the surface while removing any pushed through bits of clay. Let it cool to room temperature, which takes overnight at least. The next day, the clay will be hard. From one corner, carefully carefully, carefully pry up the screen from the clay. You should have a nice textured imprint of the screen in the clay. For the next part you will need a pressure pot for the next step. Mix your resin, and pour a small amount into your clay mold. Make sure that there is a small thin coat of resin on the mold. This is to remove any air bubbles that might get trapped in the finer details. Add more resin until you get about an 1/8th of an inch thickness. Lock it up into a pressure pot at about 45 to 55 psi, and let it cure! Pressurizing will crush the air out of the resin. Use a slow curing resin to get the best results. I used a fast cure, which didn't get all the bubbles out, but will definitely work for my nefarious purposes. The mold will be destroyed in the process of removing the resin casting. Here's the back.... ...and the front. Nice texture. there are a dozens of ways to get a texture like this. You can use silicone, too, to make a permanent mold for other projects. Now onto barrel greeblies. I'm not sure how to attach them yet, but at least I can start on the construction. There are two small cylinder and a strange "J" shape. The cylinders are easy. I have some spare drill rod that's close to the size and I'll cut and cement them in place. The J greeblie will need to be sculpted. I got more scrap resin and whittled away with my mini router and band saw. I made the greeblie larger that I needed. I drilled the holes straight through I just cut it in half with a band saw and I've got one for the left side, and one for the right. Question is, do I carve out piece so that it will fit over the ribs on the barrel, or do a punch a hole into the barrel and then cement the J greeblies in place? A mystery to solve.... To be continued...

I guess that's what makes this so fun, is that it allows everyone to get creative, and perhaps add a touch of realism. I'm centering on: MOLLE Double M4/M16 Magazine Pouches (approximate Size 6 - 8" Tall by 2.75" wide by 1" -2" thick) and 9mm Ammo Pouches (approximate size 5"-6" tall by 3"-4" wide by 2" thick) I think the smaller ones could be small tool, or First Aid kit pouches, but I'm still waiting to here from my nephew about those. The really thin one... I'm not sure if they make something that thin... but I would think even having it a little thick would be okay. That's my battleplan and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks Kevin! It's been hard work scratch building this. If it weren't for everyone here, I think this project wouldn't be turning out as good as it has been.

Well Done! You should be able to use the pencil on top of the ink without a problem.

Wow, that's a good catch! I just checked on my reference materials, and you're right! Do we need to make a vector file to make the decal? If so, I may be able to help out. Are the spacial dimensions the same with the first decal?

Those are "pockets" with a flap on the jumpsuit. There is no seam lines on suit itself, and I imagine its a simple modification: similar to how pockets are sewn to the hip on a pair of dress slacks. I've been checking out my nephew's gear from his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think we might be able to use US military pouches straight up, with little to no modification. They are slightly bigger than the measurements we have listed here, but they should work out nicely. They would be magazine clip pouches, and looks like standard field carry-alls. my $1.89+tax. As soon as I get them, I will post pics of them here.

Congratulations!

I was really hoping to get more done this week. The discovery of a leak in one of my house's windows, and mold growing on the drywall cut into working on everything this week. So everything thing has been slowed by 90%. I starting working on the magazine clip area. It would have to be a two stage assembly with a little acrylic bonding the two together. I dove into my scrap bin and started pulling out every thick piece of acrylic I had. I didn't have any pieces thick enough to match the dimensions. I bonded together the inch thick chunk, with a couple of half inch pieces, and then cut it to size on the mill. Then chucked it up again and carved out the troughs on the corners. I set that on the side, and then took a piece of 1/4 inch thick sheet and fly cut it to about 3/16" thick. I bolted together two 1-2-3 machining blocks to set a perfect 90-degree corner, and used that to line the 3/16" flat acrylic sheet with the machined magazine's upper portion. Some acrylic bonding agent and it's good as solid. With that completed, time to make the platform that the magazine. Luckily, the platform that teh magazine rest on has "even" dimensions, so I was able to cut a sheet of styrene on a table saw. Now moving to the back half... I have the raw material for the main body: A little more planning...

Back on the Carbine.... I forgot, there is a little shield thingie that is on the muzzle. Since I didn't have the time to turn it on the lathe, I did the next best thing. I took a piece of 2-inch PVC pipe, and cut it to the proper length, then sliced it in half. Next, I took a heat gun and blasted it until it was semi-soft. I took the flappy piece, and held it to the side muzzle where it will be placed, burning my fingertips. Turned out good. After I had it at the proper diameter. I cut it to the proper size, and then bonded another piece of PVC to make the "wing." I'm thinking I'll counter sink some holes in this piece, and bolt it to the muzzle. The interior of the pipe is sort of wonky from the manufacturing process. I still need to make an bright orange "safety plug" so that I can push it into the muzzle so that the cops don;t mistake this for a real weapon. (Illinois has passed a bill about toy guns having a orange plug in the end....) I fixed the chip in the tail section. Bondo patched, and then cut to shape with the lathe. After it's painted, it will be invisible. The real challenge was installing the ridges on the barrel. It turned out that if you take a seamstresses' measuring tape, and wrap it around the end of the 1-1/2" PVC pipe, it makes the process that much easier. As it turned out in my case, the ridges are a quarter inch thick, and spaced a quarter inch apart. I marked the areas and then used a carpenters' square to make straight lines along the length of the pipe. I did have to tweak it a little to get the pipe square enough to make the lines near perfect. After that, I chucked into the mill, and cut grooves where the ridges would sit. Turned out okay! Those greeblies that go on the sides, those will be a challenge. And we get this.... I'm starting to move into the rear body of the carbine. I cut out two boxes that sit behind the barrel, but on the sides of the carbines' back section. I milled these out of acrylic. I'll bolt them to the aft portion of the gun. I'm still debating what material to use for the main body. I was going to use wood, but i think it's too soft, and might not have enough weight to balance the gun. I may go with 1-1/2 inch acrylic block and start carving. It's sturdy enough to to drill holes in, and tap to receive a 1/4"-20 rod to support and hold the barrel in place. It should also be heavy enough to balance the gun's weight. Because it is very thick stuff, and a complete solid piece, it will survive more than a couple of drops. Not that I'm planning to toss this thing around like a football... that's crazy. Getting close to a 50% mark!

Thanks Ghst-Stkr! For thicker styrene, I go to McMaster Industrial Supply. (www.mcmaster.com). A little pricey, but it's the best place I know of thicknesses over 1/2". You should be able to get styrene cylinders if you're looking for them. Back to the work table. I took my PVC tube, sealed one end and poured urethane into the tube to make a "core" that would perfectly fit the pipe. After it cured, I cut and machined two pieces at one inch thickness, and bore a 1/4" hole through the center. I urethane bonded the muzzle and the core together. I added the last remaining details on the muzzle with a couple styrene strips. I cut the PVC pipe down to size. I want to get on the mill to cut some grooves in, but unfortunately that will have to wait a couple of days since we're using it for an important project. Since the lathe was free, I started the back portion of the barrel. I had an accident on the lathe with my piece on it. The cutter cracked on edge off when I moved the wrong axis. Stupid me. I was going to hide my mistake under the magazine port, but I got discombobulated while I was talking with my boss, and put the detail piece on the wrong side without double checking my orientation. I will rebuild that area with a fiberglass/urethane patch, and either trim it on the mill, or sand it to shape. The other core was urethane bonded in place afterwards. Time for the greeblie! I cut a piece of acrylic and sanded the mating end to fit the curve of the cylinder. Even though I was bonding it to the cylinder, I wanted a little extra hold. I bore a hole through the center of the greeblie, and into the barrel end. I measured the head of the metal screw and did a second bore that only went about a quarter of the way down. Once it's secured, I want the screw head to be invisible: it'll be below the surface. I'll use a body filler to fill the hole with the screw head and sand it smooth. I used a coarse metalworking screw, about 1" to 1.25" long, and secured it. The I used a q-tip to clean up any excess glue that was pushed out. It'll need a little fine detail sanding to crisp the edges, but for now it's good. I'll fill that hole later. So far. Not bad. That chip is bothering me, but I'll fix it. That what I'm good at.

I've started taking the time to make the DC-15S Carbine for the ol' BARC trooper. I'll probably make the Rifle as well, but for now, this one will do. I am using the Blueprints available on clonetroopers.net - and you can check 'em out clicking here. So first things first. Starting at the Muzzle and working my way backwards. I had some scrap urethane cylinders from a few years back and they were the perfect size to turn down on a lathe. The "sight" was 1/8th-inch drill rod bent into shape. I still need to add some styrene details on the sides. The next section of the muzzle is a PVC 1-1/2 inch pipe. More detailing shortly.

Welcome to BSN, Cawa!

For the archive: Hyper

New armor accessory arrived today. Time to start the holster!!